Various X-ray baggage scanning systems are known for detecting the presence of explosives and other prohibited items in baggage, or luggage, prior to loading the baggage onto a commercial aircraft. A common technique of measuring a material's density is to expose the material to X-rays and to measure the amount of radiation absorbed by the material, the absorption being indicative of the density. Since many explosive materials may be characterized by a range of densities differentiable from that of other items typically found in baggage, explosives are generally amenable to detection by X-ray equipment.
Most X-ray baggage scanning systems in use today are of the "line scanner" type and include a stationary X-ray source, a stationary linear detector array, and a conveyor belt for transporting baggage between the source and detector array as the baggage passes through the scanner. The X-ray source generates an X-ray beam that passes through and is partially attenuated by the baggage and is then received by the detector array. During each measuring interval the detector array generates data representative of the integral of density of the planar segment of the baggage through which the X-ray beam passes, and this data is used to form one or more raster lines of a two-dimensional image. As the conveyor belt transports the baggage past the stationary source and detector array, the scanner generates a two-dimensional image representative of the density of the baggage, as viewed by the stationary detector array. The density image is typically displayed for analysis by a human operator.
Techniques using dual energy X-ray sources are known for providing additional information about a material's chemical characteristics, beyond solely a density measurement. Techniques using dual energy X-ray sources involve measuring the X-ray absorption characteristics of a material for two different energy levels of X-rays. These measurements provide an indication of the material's atomic number in addition to an indication of the material's density. Dual energy X-ray techniques for energy-selective reconstruction of X-ray CT images are described, for example, in Alvarez, Robin et al., "Energy-selective Reconstructions in X-ray Computerized Tomography", Phys. Med. Biol. 1976, Vol. 21, No. 5, 733-744; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,998.
One proposed use for such dual energy techniques has been in connection with a baggage scanner for detecting the presence of explosives in baggage. Explosive materials are generally characterized by a known range of atomic numbers and are therefore amenable to detection by such dual energy X-ray sources. One such dual energy source is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,774, issued on Aug. 26, 1997, entitled "Improved Dual Energy Power Supply," which is assigned to the same assignee as the present invention and which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Plastic explosives present a particular challenge to baggage scanning systems because, due to their moldable nature, plastic explosives may be formed into geometric shapes that are difficult to detect. Most explosives capable of significantly damaging an aircraft weigh at least a pound and are sufficiently large in length, width, and height so as to be readily detectable by an X-ray scanner system regardless of the explosive's orientation within the baggage. However, a plastic explosive powerful enough to damage an aircraft may be formed into a relatively thin sheet that is extremely small in one dimension and is relatively large in the other two dimensions. The detection of plastic explosives may be difficult because it may be difficult to see the explosive material in the image, particularly when the material is disposed so that the thin sheet is parallel to the direction of the X-ray beam as the sheet passes through the system.
Thus, detection of suspected baggage requires very attentive operators. The requirement for such attentiveness can result in greater operator fatigue, and fatigue as well as any distractions can result in a suspected bag passing through the system undetected.
Accordingly, a great deal of effort has been made to design a better baggage scanner. Such designs, for example, have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,047 (Donges et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,289 (Glockmann et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,988 (Tsutsui et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,764 (Peschmann et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,561 (Kotowski); U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,547 (Krug et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,552 (Peschmann et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,218 (Krug et al.) and German Offenlegungsschrift DE 31 503 06 A1 (Heimann GmbH).
At least one of these designs, described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,764 (Peschmann et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,552 (Peschmann et al.) (hereinafter the '764 and '552 patents), has been commercially developed and is referred to hereinafter as the "Invasion Machine." The Invision Machine includes a CT scanner of the third generation type, which typically include an X-ray source and an X-ray detector system secured respectively to diametrically opposite sides of an annular-shaped platform or disk. The disk is rotatably mounted within a gantry support so that in operation the disk continuously rotates about a rotation axis while X-rays pass from the source through an object positioned within the opening of the disk to the detector system.
The detector system can include a linear array of detectors disposed as a single row in the shape of a circular arc having a center of curvature at the focal spot of the X-ray source, i.e., the point within the X-ray source from which the X-rays emanate. The X-ray source generates a fan shaped beam, or fan beam, of X-rays that emanates from the focal spot, passes through a planar imaging field, and is received by the detectors. The CT scanner includes a coordinate system defined by X-, Y- and Z-axes, wherein the axes intersect and are all normal to one another at the center of rotation of the disk as the disk rotates about the rotation axis. This center of rotation is commonly referred to as the "isocenter." The Z-axis is defined by the rotation axis and the X- and Y-axes are defined by and lie within the planar imaging field. The fan beam is thus defined as the volume of space defined between a point source, i.e., the focal spot, and the receiving surfaces of the detectors of the detector array exposed to the X-ray beam. Because the dimension of the receiving surfaces of the linear array of detectors is relatively small in the Z-axis direction the fan beam is relatively thin in that direction. Each detector generates an output signal representative of the intensity of the X-rays incident on that detector. Since the X-rays are partially attenuated by all the mass in their path, the output signal generated by each detector is representative of the density of all the mass disposed in the imaging field between the X-ray source and that detector.
As the disk rotates, the detector array is periodically sampled, and for each measuring interval each of the detectors in the detector array generates an output signal representative of the density of a portion of the object being scanned during that interval. The collection of all of the output signals generated by all the detectors in a single row of the detector array for any measuring interval is referred to as a "projection," and the angular orientation of the disk (and the corresponding angular orientations of the X-ray source and the detector array) during generation of a projection is referred to as the "projection angle." At each projection angle, the path of the X-rays from the focal spot to each detector, called a "ray," increases in cross section from a point source to the receiving surface area of the detector, and thus is thought to magnify the density measurement because the receiving surface area of the detector area is larger than any cross sectional area of the object through which the ray passes.
As the disk rotates around the object being scanned, the scanner generates a plurality of projections at a corresponding plurality of projection angles. Using well known algorithms a CT image of the object may be generated from all the projection data collected at each of the projection angles. The CT image is representative of the density of a two dimensional "slice" of the object through which the fan beam has passed during the rotation of the disk through the various projection angles. The resolution of the CT image is determined in part by the width of the receiving surface area of each detector in the plane of the fan beam, the width of the detector being defined herein as the dimension measured in the same direction as the width of the fan beam, while the length of the detector is defined herein as the dimension measured in a direction normal to the fan beam parallel to the rotation or Z-axis of the scanner.
One important design criterion for a baggage scanner is the speed with which the scanner can scan an item of baggage. To be of practical utility in any major airport, a baggage scanner should be capable of scanning a large number of bags at a very fast rate, e.g., on the order of seven hundred of bags per hour or faster, and to provide this rate the scanner must scan an average sized bag at a rate of about 5 seconds per bag or less. For this reason one problem with the Invision Machine is that CT scanners of the type described in the '764 and '552 patents take a relatively long time, e.g., from about 0.6 to about 2.0 seconds for one revolution of the disk, to generate the data for a single sliced CT image. Further, the thinner the slice of the beam through the bag for each image the better the resolution of the image, so the CT scanner should provide images of sufficient resolution to detect plastic explosives on the order of only a few millimeters thick. If 0.6 to 2.0 seconds are required for generation of data for each sliced CT image, and the average bag can be assumed to be about 70 cm long, at the desired throughput rate of 700 bags per hour a conventional CT baggage scanner can only afford to generate an average of two or three CT images per bag since the bag must be moved and stopped at each location of a scan. Clearly, one cannot scan the entire bag within the time allotted for a reasonably fast throughput. Generating only two or three CT images per baggage item leaves most of the item unscanned and therefore does not provide adequate or complete scanning.